Exploring around Encantame

Exploring the region around Encantame Towers provides an opportunity to enjoy the vastness of the surrounding desert.

Pinacate Biosphere Reserve & the Greater Desert of Altar

The Pinacate Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site located to the north of Puerto Peñasco. It is definitely worth exploring! The Schuk Toak Visitors Center closer to town provides the perfect gateway to learn more about the desert rugged landscape. This area is home to ancient volcanic flows, immense maar craters, and moonlike terrain. Parts of the Pinacate Biosphere Reserve served as training sites for Apollo astronauts as they prepared for missions to the moon.

The entrance to the Schuk Toak Visitors Center is located along MEX Highway 8; 30 kilometers north of Rocky Point.

Exploring the Sand Dunes

Puerto Peñasco is not only home to some of the most extreme tidal movements along its shores, but also possesses one of the largest masses of shifting sands on the globe. You can reach the sand dunes of the Pinacate via hiking trails starting out from the Schuk Toak Visitors Center. It’s not uncommon to spot sandboarders gliding down the dunes, or extreme hikers planning a mountain escapade to the top of the Pinacate range. Visits to the sand dunes for hiking is best in cooler months, and always with plenty of water.

Exploring around Encantame: Off-roading

If bounding across the dunes is more your style, several spots throughout town offer ATV, RZR, and 4×4 rentals. Helmets are required. Popular trails wind behind condominiums along Sandy Beach, and up “La Lona – Competition Hill” further west toward the area of Cholla Bay.